One Year Bible Challenge, Week 39
Week 39
September 24 to 30, 2011[1. The notes, summaries and points on this page are intended as bookmarks of important matters which are covered in this week’s readings. They are not intended as complete summaries of readings. Please forgive me if some of my summaries are not 100% on point. Read the manual–i.e. Bible–so that you will get a more clear understanding of the material. Thank you.
–Tom Truex]
This is the “One Year Bible Challenge:” to read the entire Bible in one year. Assuming a normal reading level, this can be done by spending about 10-15 minutes per day, each and every day. See ReadTheWholeBible.COM for more information. If you would like details so you can join us, or if you have any other questions, please call Tom Truex. Or send an email by using the CONTACT form on K-Line.ORG.
Themes and stories:
Isaiah disparages false gods:
[9] All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. [10] Who fashions a god or casts an image, that is profitable for nothing? Isaiah 44:9-10 (RSV).
Isaiah prophecies that God will anoint Cyrus. This is the only place in the Bible in which a gentile ruler is said to be “anointed.” Cyrus later permitted the Jewish exiles to return and rebuild Jerusalem.
The false gods of the Babylonians had to be carried.
In chapter 47, Isaiah prophecies the downfall of Babylon.
In Chapter 51, Isaiah conveys God’s blessings for his people. In Chapter 54 Isaiah prophecies that Israel will be rebuilt.
Isaiah admonishes the people to share with the needy:
[7] Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Isaiah 58:7 (RSV).
Jesus later quotes the words in Isaiah 61:1-2:
Isaiah 61:1-2 (RSV)
- [1] The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; [2] to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
Luke 4:18-19 (RSV)
- [18] “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
[19] to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Discussion points: What does it mean to “take refuge” in God?
Isaiah 57:11-13 (NIV)
[11] “Whom have you so dreaded and feared
that you have not been true to me,
and have neither remembered me
nor taken this to heart?
Is it not because I have long been silent
that you do not fear me?
[12] I will expose your righteousness and your works,
and they will not benefit you.
[13] When you cry out for help,
let your collection of idols save you!
The wind will carry all of them off,
a mere breath will blow them away.
But whoever takes refuge in me
will inherit the land
and possess my holy mountain.”
Psalms: Psalm 68:1 to 72:20
Proverbs: Proverbs 24:1 to 24:12
Themes and stories:
Paul announces that he is a prisoner for Jesus Christ for the sake of the gentiles.
There is one body and one Spirit. One faith, one baptism, and one God. A Christian must live as a new person. Paul says we are to be “imitators of God.” Ephesians 5:1. Fornication and impurity of any kind are obviously off limits for Christians. But so is obscene, silly or vulgar talk.
Advice for husbands and wives:
[21] Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. [22] Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. [23] For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. [24] As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. [25] Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, [26] that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, [27] that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. [28] Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. [29] For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, [30] because we are members of his body. [31] “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”1 [32] This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church; [33] however, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Ephesians 5:21-33 (RSV).
Children are instructed to obey their parents, and fathers told to not provoke their children to anger.
Slaves are advised to obey their earthly masters. This is not an endorsement of the institution of slavery so much as a recognition of the current state of affairs; and practical advice to make the institution function in a more Godly manner.
Paul describes the armor of God we use to defeat the devil:
[14] Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, [15] and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; [16] besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. [17] And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:14-17 (RSV).
Philippians. Paul tells us to be humble, like Christ.
Discussion points: What is the Meaning and Importance of Humility for the Christian?
Ephesians 4:2 (NIV)
[2] Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Philippians 2:3-11 (NIV)
[3] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, [4] not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
[5] In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
[6] Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
[7] rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
[8] And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
[9] Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
[10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
[11] and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
The discussion notes ( PDF / TEXT ) for breakfast on Saturday, October 1, 2011 are now online — ”Humility”. This week, we continue our discussion of Isaiah. Lots of prophesy, and more! In the New Testament, continue reading Paul’s advice as to family relationships. We begin reading the book of Philippians. Discussion verses: Isaiah 57:11-13 and Ephesians 4:2-11